Upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit: experiences with different copy protections

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The same with FM8. It has been very easy to get the authorization for an additional computer when one of my two first computers crashed without any warning... Since the first day in 2007 I have always FM8 installed on two PC with the same license. No problem. For all their products Native Instrument allow the installation of the same license number on two PC simultaneously, not more... except for Maschine and Komplete they accept three simultaneously. If a third (or fourth) installation is needed, it is necessary to uninstall one of the previous installations: So I encountered an odd situation years ago (in 2009) when one of my first two computers fell definitely broken... since its death was sudden it had of course not let me the time to uninstall anything. I felt bothered by that odd situation which prevented me to reinstall my FM8 on a new computer since obviously I couldn't uninstall it from a definitively dead computer. I wrote a (kind) mail to the customer support, explaining the problem and saying which of the two installations was definitely lost due to the death of the computer... and three days later I received an answer saying "That's ok, the installation on this computer is now canceled by us, you can reinstall FM8 on a new computer in addition to your second remaining computer. If you need more information, write us by answer to this mail without removing the ticket code."

And yes, I had been able to reinstall without the least problem. Nice!


I have also several products from Applied Acoustic Systems. They too register their products by Challenge/Response. For all their products they have the same common policy (here is the text extracted from the page of Tassman):
Can I re-authorize Tassman 4 if I upgrade or change my computer, or have a computer crash?

The license agreement for Tassman 4 allows authorization on up to two computers which belong to you. You might need, however, more than two authorizations if for example, you get a new computer or change some piece of hardware such as the hard drive. In these situations, it won't be a problem to obtain additional authorizations.

With your product serial number, you will be able to generate two different authorizations every 90 days directly from our website. Beyond that threshold, you will have to provide an explanation of why you need an additional authorization
It's here:
https://www.applied-acoustics.com/tassman/buy/#footer

So we can see that they have nearly the same terms as Native Instruments, but it is easier in AAS with their periodic 90 day threshold without having to email them each time a very grave problem occurs by a definitive crash of a computer.


I also have the Korg Legacy Collection having C/R registration. Korg allows the simultaneous installation on all the computers that you want, the restriction being to use only one at a time. You can read Q7/A7 and Q8/A8 at the bottom of this page:
http://www.korguser.net/shop/software/s ... on/faq.asp

When I bought a new laptop three months ago (I have now 2 laptops and 1 main tower) I installed all my KLC on this third computer as well as on the two other computers... At he first launch of each element of the KLC it has just automatically showed me the procedure to activate this third computer for each element of the KLC (a bit fastidious), I did it as mentioned on the little windows, and all works perfect on my main computer (64 bit) and on my two laptops (one is 32 bit, the other 64 bit).


It is exactly the same with my Cakewalk products:
https://www.cakewalk.com/Register/faq.aspx


And almost the same with IK Multimedia which allows the installation on up to ten different computers but with the restriction of only three simultaneously (after the total of ten computers you must pay up for a new series of ten, but phew... you can reinstall as many times as you want on a same computer without having to lose a point in the count of authorizations).
With IK Multimedia products, many people do a confusion between registration and authorization. Registration is only once (at the very fist installation after the purchase), and it imply a first authorization of course. A new authorization is needed only for a new computer (to authorize the motherboard of the computer to use the product), not at each installation on a same computer (a reinstallation on a same computer needs simply to resend the same authorization, not to create a new one).

Installation on three computers simultaneously (see the chapter 2):
And a max of ten registrations (i.e. ten computers) along the time (for example I have my Sampletank XT installed on two computers, one of these two computers having known three successive installations last year for technical reasons... and I can see that the number of remaining authorizations is not 10-1-3=6 but indeed 10-2=8).
Build your life everyday as if you would live for a thousand years. Marvel at the Life everyday as if you would die tomorrow.
I'm now severely diseased since September 2018.

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Ingonator wrote:
vurt wrote:
i have reaktor on 2 pcs.
With the same license?

As i got Reaktor as part of Komplete 6 i could not install seperately.


Ingo
?

You can just install Reaktor from your Komplete installer. And, with Komplete, you're allowed installs on three systems:

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/su ... s-product/

ew
A spectral heretic...

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ew wrote: ?

You can just install Reaktor from your Komplete installer. And, with Komplete, you're allowed installs on three systems:

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/su ... s-product/

ew
Yes. Exactly as I said just above at the beginning of my answer:
... For all their products Native Instrument allow the installation of the same license number on two PC simultaneously, not more... except for Maschine and Komplete they accept three simultaneously...
Build your life everyday as if you would live for a thousand years. Marvel at the Life everyday as if you would die tomorrow.
I'm now severely diseased since September 2018.

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Ingonator wrote:
Conclusion (for the moment):
The eLicenser dongle and key files (are the most simple to handle, serials are OK too but CR really sucks...

Based on this i don't really get why several people here are bashing the eLicenser dongle. Don't have experiences with the iLok dongle yet so could not comment there.

Based on that here is a kind of my personal ranking for the used copy protections:

1.) no copy protection
2.) eLicenser dongle
3.) key files
4.) registry installer (e.g. PSP NobleQ)
5.) Serial number
6.) Challenge/response (CR)

Ingo
It is not only the question of re-installation but also about reliability and software ownership. Serial/keyfile protection might require some more effort during re-installation but you can be 100% sure always that it will work. It will also work even 10 years later if you need it. It will also never lead to situation where malfunctioning copy protection (broken dongle, deleted soft licenses, software incompatibilities) will stop you dead when trying to use you paid software. Everything else puts paying user at the mercy of external factors and works as a punishment for paying customers. End of story.

I've said it before that I'm really glad for people who have never had problems with their CP but doing consulting work I have seen my share. iLok, eLicenser, CR and all the other CP sh*t all have their share of problems. Things like broken and lost dongles, CP software conflicts with other software (one of my most expensive pieces of software stopped working recently because of it), activation server downtime, deleted licenses after HDD crash, all eLicenser software going to demo mode after installing one demo plugin, USB dongles not recognized (a recent Waves problem), activation servers being switched off and so on do happen.

Dongles are worst because they put extra expense on the paying customer so basically putting the expenses of piracy protection on those who pay for software. You will become quickly to appreciate serial only protection as soon as something happens to your iLok or eLicenser dongle before live show or on a busy time and you have to go through the RMA process.
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